I think too often college students are conditioned into following one career path, so much so that they miss out on great opportunities or worse they end up with a career they hate. Throughout college I was – without it ever being explicitly stated by anyone – led to believe that after graduation I would go to work at a public relations agency as an assistant account executive. Sure there was the mention here and there about working as a communications coordinator at a non-profit or for a U.S. congressman, but the main focus always came back to writing press releases and developing communication campaigns.
Don’t misread my frustrations; if given the opportunity, I wouldn’t go back and change my major or my university. But I would have listened more to the voice in my head that said, ‘This is not exactly right for me.’ At the beginning of my job search following graduation, my focus was extremely narrow. Now, a year and a half later, I can confidently say that the skills I learned in my PR program are applicable to more than the “typical” entry-level positions taken by students of PR.
The recession and this dismal job market have probably also played a part in my willingness to seek employment in less traditional places – as I’m sure it has done for many people who lost their jobs. Heck, maybe the recession is a blessing in disguise for some people who have been stuck in careers they despised. Whatever the circumstances – you’re still in school, you recently graduated, or you’re looking for what’s next – don’t let yourself be pigeonholed by what you’ve done (your major, your internships, your 15-year career as a financial planner) and be open to opportunities where your skills are transferable and maybe even highly desired.
And since I don’t want to leave you wondering, ‘what does she mean? How is my science major transferable to anything other than being a scientist?’ Here are a few examples:
- Psychology major – understanding human nature is a huge part of being a financial planner or a stockbroker, if you like numbers, too, why not try something in this industry, or get involved in marketing research
- Performing arts major – coming across movie roles is tough, but I bet schools in your area are always looking for great drama teachers or directors for after school musical groups, or if you’ve got one of those great voices, why not get into voiceover work for radio or TV commercials, or maybe you’re a great storyteller, that’s good for copywriting
- Business major – I know most people that study accounting go on to work for one of the big accounting firms, but why not look into consulting, financial planning for a non-profit, or if you’re not a suit kind of person, accounting for a marketing agency
- Engineers – so you’re great with all the technical stuff, but maybe you like writing or events planning, too… why not get into a technical industry through a large company’s communications department or write for a technical magazine
- History major – so you spent most of college writing excessively long papers and decided you don’t want to write history books for a very long time, there’s teaching, working in a museum, your local historical society, not to mention how much government agencies love a history major
- PR/Marketing/Communications people – cross-over! It’s amazing how much we learn to love one aspect of marketing communications when we’re devoted to studying or working in it. Been an account exec at an agency? Why not get into account management at a research firm. Wrote a lot of press release and pitched a lot of media? Why not look into becoming a media buyer?
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